Aggresive or not??

    • Bronze

    Aggresive or not??

    Hey everyone. Hope you all are doing great. I have a border collie mix and I love her with all my heart. I have OCD and have a big fear that my dog will ever become aggresive, because then I have failed her. Generally she is very good with dogs especially on the beach, and plays very nicely. Walking into a enviroment with a lot of dogs makes me super stressed and I know that is bad for the dog. What bothers me is small experiences that I experience with her ie. she barks and growls a lot when she is in the car and we pass owners with their dogs, what can be the cause of this? Also today I had a new experience. We live on a farm and usually walk without a leash, the farm is becoming a tourist attraction and more people show up with their dogs. We walked our same route and suddenly we encounterd two poodle type dogs. Thinking that she would play nicely with them, she approached them and they started barking at her like crazy. She then turned around and ran towards them chasing them and nipping them on the bum I called my dog over and she came to me. The owners of the poodles was very upset and mumbled that my dog is aggresive. Please is this behaviour normal or is my dog really aggressive? Please no one responds to me on ay other forum. Any help will be appreciated.

    regards

    Anmarie

    • Bronze

    Hi, how old is your dog? Puppies usually go through a phase when they are prone to doing things aggressively. It may involve biting, nipping or chewing which can be corrected through proper training and follow through. Here is a good read about puppy nipping: www.howtoteachadog.com/how-to-stop-puppy-biting

    • Puppy

    When she encountered the dogs on her property she probably was going to play with them. But instead she saw their barking as a threat. She was just defending what is hers and you. And in other situation, as hard as it may be, try to trust that your dog will do fine. I was actually in an obedience class with a woman and a heeler and she was always overly nervous that her dog would attack other dogs, and he did. He got my dog twice. In his eyes he was just protecting his owner because he was getting the vibe that she was "nervous or scared" whenever another dog approached. As far as the growling in the car, this can be trained out of her with patience. Form a command like "watch me" and when you pass another dog use the command to take her attention off of the dog and walker and onto you. I hope this is useful information.

    • Gold Top Dog

    testing

    • Gold Top Dog

    Guess I can only post little replies from my phone.....

    I am not a trainer, just an old broad with years of experience with dogs of many breeds.

    This does not sound like aggression to me so much as not knowing the proper behavior.  As for the car, that sounds almost like she might be resource guarding.

    The very BEST advise that anyone can give you is to tell you to find a very good, positive reinforcement trainer.  The trainer will teach YOU how to train your dog, so  don't expect miracles without some work of your own.

    I would post my property to keep the tourists from roaming around loose.  Or, if you actually want them there, then keep your dog on a long line and teach her a good, solid "leave it".